Open access to modern information technologies generates a new type of society that increases the productivity and competitiveness of any country in the world market and requires significant changes in the education system. One of the most innovative approaches in education is gamification of learning which has considerable capabilities to increase students' enjoyment, interest and engagement in the study. In this regard, the aim of our research is to analyse the use of gamification in higher education institutions of Poland, Ukraine and to study the effectiveness of using Kahoot as one of gamification technologies in teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) to students in a technical university. As shown by the results of the study, Poland has considerable experience in the use of computer games in higher education, whereas Ukraine is only beginning to implement these technologies in learning. An experimental study of the use of Kahoot platform in ESP classes at university level, which employed the methods of testing, observation and questioning, showed the effectiveness and expediency of this technology, as the students demonstrated a higher achievement rate, more active engagement and deeper motivation for learning.

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Background. The presence of a noise component on 3D images of single-photon emission computed tomo­graphy (SPECT) of a brain significantly distorts the probability distribution function (PD) of the radioactive count rate in the images. The presence of noise and further filtering of the data, based on a subjective assessment of image quality, have a significant impact on the calculation of volumetric cerebral blood flow and the values of the uptake asymmetry of the radiopharmaceutical in a brain. Objective. We are aimed to develop a method for optimal SPECT filtering of brain images with lipophilic radiopharmaceuticals, based on a Gaussian filter (GF), for subsequent image segmentation by the threshold method.  Methods. SPECT images of the water phantom and the brain of patients with 99mTc-HMPAO were used. We have developed a technique for artificial addition of speckle noise to conditionally flawless data in order to determine the optimal parameters for smoothing SPECT, based on a GF. The quantitative criterion for optimal smoothing was the standard deviation between the PD of radioactive count rate of the smoothed image and conditionally ideal one. Results. It was shown that the maximum radioactive count rate of the SPECT image has an extremum by changing the standard deviation of the GF in the range of 0.3–0.4 pixels. The greater the noise component in the SPECT image, the more quasi-linearly the corresponding rate changes. This dependence allows determining the optimal smoothing parameters. The application of the developed smoothing technique allows restoring the probability distribution function of the radioactive count rate (distribution histogram) with an accuracy up to 5–10%. This provides the possibility to standardize SPECT images of brain. Conclusions. The research results of work solve a specific applied problem: restoration of the histogram of a radiopharmaceuticals distribution in a brain for correct quantitative assessment of regional cerebral blood flow. In contrast to the well-known publications on the filtration of SPECT data, the work takes into account that the initial tomographic data are 3D, rather than 2D slices, and contain not only uniform random Gaussian noise, but also a pronounced speckle component.

The development of modern society in the world takes place in the era of rapid development of information technologies in all fields of human activity, including education. Therefore, one of the main ways of solving the problem of education modernization is the introduction of information technologies and combination with traditional educational means. The issue of ensuring the high level of information and communication technologies in the educational process becomes more urgent every year. The experience of teachers of higher education institutions shows the effectivenes of information and communication technologies integration in teaching English. Information and communication technologies enable students to be involved in the learning process, increase students’ motivation and their interest in learning English. The use of information and communication technologies in the educational process gives the possibility to reduce the time for mastering the material at the expense of clarity and to check students’ knowledge in the interactive form. The article deals with the use of modern information and communication technologies in the process of teaching English in higher education. Aspects of information and communication technologies in the process of learning a foreign language are theoretically grounded. The experience of information and communication technologies implementation in the educational process of higher educational institutions is analyzed and the main advantages and disadvantages of their application are characterized. The experience of using Quizlet (an application that helps in learning new words, phrases, terms faster and more effectively) in teaching English at the National Technical University of Ukraine “Kyiv Polytechnic Institute of Igor Sikorsky” was analized in the context of the analysis of information technologies in higher educational establishments of Ukraine.